Only one week removed from narrowly making its own conference tournament, the baseball team now finds itself in a fortuitous double-elimination NCAA regional. The pack will join top-seeded host Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston and Stony Brook in Myrtle Beach for regional play, which will kick off Friday. The site of the regional will be the familiar BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the same ballpark where the Wolfpack beat then-No. 5 UC Irvine and James Madison in the Baseball at the Beach Classic in February.
“We’re excited to travel to Myrtle Beach,” coach Elliott Avent said. “We knew we were not hosting so our guys would have been happy to go anywhere. We’re going to have a good fan base down there and we played there back in February so we’re familiar with the ballpark.”
Dating back to the series against Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack (38-22) has been one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 10 of its final 13 regular season contests, making it all the way to the ACC championship game before falling to Florida State Sunday.
Perhaps the most important ingredient in State’s success this upcoming weekend will be rest. The Wolfpack is attempting to recover from a three-game stretch in the ACC tournament that spanned nearly 36 hours.
“It’s not about wins and losses right now,” Avent said. “It’s about how you are playing. Even though making it to the ACC championship game beat our kids up a little bit physically, it toughened them up mentally. A couple of guys were able to get some experience in big-time pressure situations that will help prepare them for this upcoming weekend.”
The Myrtle Beach regional features a slew of talented players including Big South pitcher of the year Anthony Meo, who helped Coastal Carolina (51-7) earn the Big South championship. Meo boasts an impressive 13-1 record for the Chanticleers this season to go along with a 1.80 ERA.
College of Charleston (42-17) is led by the Southern Conference’s player of the year, third baseman Matt Leeds. Only a sophomore, Leeds has been the spark to the Cougars’ potent offense all year, batting .340 with 20 homeruns and 80 RBIs.
Stony Brook (29-25) is led by No. 1 starting pitcher Nick Tropeano, who helped the Seawolves claim the American East conference championship. Tropeano has an 8-3 record with a 2.36 ERA and also threw an astounding 101 strikeouts in 91 innings.
In order for State to repeat the success it had in 2008, when it advanced to the Super Regionals, the Wolfpack must continue to pitch well and maintain its torrid hitting.
Slimmed-down first baseman Harold Riggins has been the Wolfpack’s hottest hitter as the season has unfolded. The sophomore became only the second State player to be honored as the ACC tournament MVP after an impressive weekend at the plate. Riggins went 9-for-16 in Greensboro with three RBI in four tournament games.
The Wolfpack pitching staff has been revitalized with strong efforts from senior lefthander Alex Sogard. The lefty turned in two strong performances during the ACC tournament and will be depended on as State looks to advance out of the Myrtle Beach regional.
“Alex has just been phenomenal,” Avent said. “He’s been phenomenal since he’s gotten here but the off-season shoulder surgery, which set him back, was something he’s had to deal with to try and come back and pitch in his last year of college. At times he just was not up to full strength and that was frustrating for him, but he’s a competitor in every way, shape and form, and that’s why he has been pitching so well lately.”
The Pack’s first game is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. against College of Charleston.
“We’re just trying to give our guys some rest right now so they will be sharp for this weekend’s games,” Avent said. “If we play the way we are capable of playing, I don’t see any reason why we can’t make it out of this regional.”